§ 28-8205 — Construction of new airports; definitions

A. A new airport shall not be constructed within the boundaries of an urbanized area or within twenty-four statute miles of the exterior boundary of an urbanized area without approval of the board.

B. The board shall approve construction of a new airport only if both:

1. The construction of the new airport is consistent with the state, regional and local aviation system plans.

2. The state, regional and local aviation plans consider relevant criteria, including airspace and air safety, land use compatibility and priority of funding.

C. This section does not apply to a heliport or to an addition to an existing airport.

D. For the purposes of this section:

1. "Airport" means an area of land or water that is designed, set aside and utilized or to be utilized for the landing and taking off of aircraft.

2. "Heliport" means an area of land, water or structure that is used or intended to be used for the landing and takeoff of rotorcraft. For the purposes of this paragraph, "rotorcraft" means a heavier than air aircraft that depends principally for its support in flight on the lift generated by one or more rotors.

3. "Urbanized area" means an urbanized area as defined in the most recent decennial census by the United States bureau of the census.